Software upgrade using layer-2 management entity messaging

ABSTRACT

Principles, apparatuses, systems, circuits, methods, and computer program products for performing a software upgrade in a MoCA network includes receiving an image of a software upgrade at a server and sending the image in the MoCA network using an L2ME message channel to a client that is enabled to receive the image and store the image in a client memory. The image may be broken up into packets, and a sequence number may be assigned to each packet to assist the client in assembling them. CRC information may also be appended to the packets to enable the client to verify their contents.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a CONTINUATION of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/448,639, filed Apr. 17, 2012, entitled “SOFTWARE UPGRADE USINGLAYER-2 MANAGEMENT ENTITY MESSAGING,” which makes reference to, claimspriority to, and claims benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/601,197, filed on Feb. 21, 2012, and titled “SOFTWAREUPGRADE USING L2ME,” the entire contents of each of which are herebyincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The principles, apparatuses, methods, systems, and computer programproducts relate generally MoCA networks, and especially to principles,apparatuses, methods, systems, and computer program products forperforming software upgrades in MoCA networks using Layer-2 ManagementEntity (L2ME) messaging.

BACKGROUND

As an ever-increasing number of multimedia applications becomeavailable, networks, especially home entertainment networks, must beable to accommodate the applications with little or no interruption.Consumers expect to be able to watch digitally recorded video (DVR), TVshows, access video on demand (VOD) services, stream music from theirpersonal computers, play interactive games on the Internet, and more.The consumers expect to enjoy these services in real time, virtuallyfrom any room in the home.

A box diagram of a typical home installation of a single-cable system isshown in FIG. 1 as an illustrative example of a home network environment10 that is based on a MoCA architecture. MoCA is a service mark ofMultimedia Over Coax Alliance, Inc. of San Ramon, Calif. The MultimediaOver Coax Alliance is a trade group that promotes standards relating tosoftware protocols, hardware topologies, interconnections of consumerelectronics devices, and networking thereof. As the MoCA standardsdevelop, various names have emerged to describe the software protocols,hardware topologies, interconnections, and networks that adhere toparticular MoCA standards versions, such as “MoCA 1.1,” “MoCA 2.0,” andso forth. Thus, unless otherwise specifically noted, the term “MoCA” isused herein to designate software protocols, hardware topologies,interconnections of consumer electronics devices, and networks thatsubstantially meet a past, present, or future MoCA standard for thepurpose or purposes stated or implied herein.

MoCA networks are typically fully meshed networks and operate at layer-2(the Media Access Control (MAC) layer) of the seven-layer Open SystemInterconnect (OSI) reference model of computer networking Layer-2corresponds to, or is part of, the link layer of the TCP/IP referencemodel. MoCA bridges are layer-2 bridging devices that bridge between aMoCA network and another networking interface, such as Ethernet,802.11a/b/g/n, Universal Serial Bus (USB), Very-high-bit-rate DigitalSubscriber Line (VDSL), Gigabyte Passive Optical Network (GPON), etc.MoCA bridges are referred herein to as L2 devices, and, among otherthings, enable legacy devices to be connected to the MoCA network.

The home network environment 10 is an illustrative example of one ofmany such environments to which the disclosed methods, apparatuses,systems, and computer program products pertain. It should be noted thatalthough a home network environment 10 is shown for illustration, themethods, apparatuses, systems, and computer program products describedherein may be employed in a myriad of other installation locations. Oneexample may include an apartment complex in which a number of dwellingsin multi building complex may be included in a single network. Anotherexample may include a business building in which a network may beemployed in a number of offices. Other examples are manifold.

The example home network environment 10 includes a gateway 12, whichreceives media signals, for example, from a cable or satellite feed online 14. The gateway 12 directs signals to the layer-2 (L2) MoCA devicesin a MoCA network 15 on lines 16, 18, and 20. In the exampleillustrated, the MoCA devices include a multiroom DVR 22, a firstlink-layer bridge (L2 bridge) 24 and a second link-layer bridge (L2bridge) 26. The gateway 12 and the multiroom DVR 22 includes their ownbuilt-in L2 bridges (not shown).

In addition, each of the L2 devices in the MoCA network 15 has a MoCApathway to each of the other L2 devices in the network. Thus, forexample, the multiroom DVR 22 is connected to the L2 bridge 24 by a MoCApathway 28, to the L2 bridge 26 by a MoCA pathway 30, and, as mentioned,to the gateway 12 by a MoCA path 26. The L2 bridge 24 is connected tothe L2 bridge 26 by a MoCA pathway 32, and as mentioned to the multiroomDVR 22 by a MoCA pathway 28, and to the gateway 12 by a MoCA pathway 18.Finally, the L2 bridge 26 is connected to the gateway 12, multiroom DVR22 and L2 bridge 24 by the aforementioned MoCA pathways 20, 30, and 32,respectively. The MoCA pathways may be provided by coaxial cables, fiberoptic lines, or the like.

Each of the L2 bridges may be connected to one or more media devices forselectively directing user media thereto. For example, in the exampleillustrated, the multiroom DVR is connected to a first television (TV)34. The L2 bridge 24 is connected to a second television (TV2) 36. Andthe L2 bridge 26 is connected to a personal computer (PC) 38. Althoughtelevisions and a PC are illustrated, the L2 bridges can be connected toa myriad of other consumer devices in the MoCA network. Examples of suchconsumer devices include, but are not limited to, cable, networked, andterrestrial set top boxes (STBs), interactive digital television (IDTV)devices, high definition television (HDTV) devices, digital-cable-readyTVs, multi-tuner digital video recorders, such as digital videorecorders (DVRs), personal video recorders (PVRs), or the like, personalcomputers (PCs), personal computer televisions (PCTVs), media gateways,on-line gaming devices, over-the-top video devices, “Blu-ray BD-live”devices, PC to TV sharing devices, Wi-Fi extenders, TV streaming mediadevices, such as “Slingbox” devices, “Roku” devices, and the like, andsound devices, such as “SoundBridge” devices, radios, or the like.

Typically, the L2 bridges 24 and 26, the multiroom DVR 22, and gateway12 are supplied by the service provider and controlled by the serviceprovider via control signals downloaded, for instance, from a cable orsatellite link, for instance on line 14. Control here includesmanagement operations such as network configuration, software upgradesof the open network elements, Parameterized Qualify of Service (PQoS),PQoS flow setup and tear down, and the like. The software of the closednetwork elements, however, heretofore could not be upgraded.

The L2 bridges are interconnected with each other in a closed network,indicated by the heavy interconnection lines 16, 18, 20, 28, 30, and 32.Presently, the closed network is not modifiable by the user. The closednetwork is in distinction to the open network, which is user modifiableand which comprises the interconnections of the consumer devices abovedescribed. Consequently, the L2 bridges 24 and 26, the multiroom DVR 22,and gateway 12 can communicate with each other. Because the L2 bridges24 and 26, the multiroom DVR 22, and gateway 12 are associated with oneor more of the consumer devices, the closed network enables the consumerdevices to communicate with each other according to the MoCAarchitecture created thereby. In current networks, the L2 bridges 24 and26, the multiroom DVR 22, and gateway 12 belong exclusively to theclosed network; however, they can be used to extend the open network. Inthe future, the distinction between open and closed networks may not beso rigid, or may be eliminated entirely.

The aforementioned method and apparatus relies on Layer-2 ManagementEntity (L2ME) messages defined in the MoCA 1.1 specification. The MoCA1.1 specification describes L2ME as a robust layer-2 messagingmechanism. L2ME is used for Parameterized Quality of Service (PQoS) andother critical features to coordinate actions between two or more nodesin the network. L2ME also defines the ability for vendors to implementproprietary vendor specific messages, as long as these messages followL2ME protocol rules. A number of proprietary L2ME messages are definedto facilitate known capabilities, such as device management to obscurecapabilities such as an ability for higher layer software between thetwo devices to communicate using a MoCA network using a robustcommunication mechanism.

Therefore, one of the key challenges for operators has been to managethe layer-2 devices that do not support higher layers of protocol. Thus,in either scenario, since the layer-2 devices in the closed system arenot a part of an Ethernet service or a TCP/IP telnet service to theservice provider, the service provider has been unable to providemanagement functions such as configuration management, status andstatistics monitoring, as well as software upgrades.

What is needed therefore are principles, apparatuses, methods, systems,and computer program products that can be used to enable managementfunctions such as configuration management, status and statisticsmonitoring, as well as software upgrades (referred to collectivelyherein as “software upgrades”) in MoCA systems, including such MoCAsystems deployed in a MoCA home network environments.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodimentsin order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of suchembodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of the one ormore embodiments, and is intended to neither identify key or criticalelements of the embodiments nor delineate the scope of such embodiments.Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the describedembodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription that is presented later.

One embodiment of the presently disclosed method and apparatus manageslayer-2 bridges (L2 bridges) from the gateway (or any other higher layerdevice that an operator desires to use). Another embodiment provides forthe use of L2ME messages to facilitate software upgrade of L2 bridgesfrom the gateway device (or any other higher layer device that anoperator desires to use).

Operators can initiate software upgrade remotely from the gateway (or anequivalent node) also known as the “server”. The devices that areupgraded are considered “clients.” The word “server” is used herein toidentify nodes that are initiating a SW (software) upgrade, and the word“client” is used to identify the nodes that are being upgraded. Theservers receive the image to be upgraded via the cable or satelliteoperators directly.

In some networks, different clients may be operating with differentsoftware versions. A device discovery mechanism, such as LLDP (LinkLayer Discovery Protocol) may be used to identify the hardware andsoftware version information being used to ensure that the servers usean appropriate image to upgrade different clients. Examples ofmechanisms of device discovery are described in copending patentapplication Ser. No. 13/343,904 filed Jan. 5, 2012, and assigned to theassignee hereof.

According to one embodiment, a method of performing a software upgradein a MoCA network includes receiving an image of a software upgrade at aserver and sending the image in the MoCA network using an L2ME messagechannel to a client that is enabled to receive the image and store theimage in a client memory. The image may be broken up into packets, and asequence number may be assigned to each packet to assist the client inassembling them. CRC information may also be appended to the packets toenable the client to verify their contents.

According to another embodiment, a method of performing a softwareupgrade of a client in a MoCA network includes receiving an image of asoftware update on an L2ME message channel in the MoCA network andstoring the image in a client memory. The image may be broken up intopackets, and a sequence number may be assigned to each packet to assistthe client in assembling them. CRC information may also be appended tothe packets to enable the client to verify their contents.

According to another embodiment a MoCA network includes a server, aclient, and an L2ME message channel. The server is configured to receivean image of a software upgrade, to break the image into packets, and tosend the packets to a client over the L2ME message channel. The clientis configured to receive the packets and to store at least a portion ofthe packets in a client memory. The server may also be configured toassign a sequence number to each packet before sending the packets tothe client. The server may also be configured to append CRC informationto the packets before sending the packets to the client to enable theclient to verify the content of the received packets.

According to another embodiment, a MoCA network server includes areceiver to receive a software update image and a transmitter to sendthe packetized software update image to a client via an L2ME messagechannel. The MoCA network server may also include means for packetizingthe software update image and assigning a sequence number to each packetof the packetized software update image. the MoCA server may alsoinclude means for appending CRC information to the packets. The MoCAnetwork server may also include a software application for controllingthe receiver, the transmitter, the means for packetizing, the means forassigning a sequence number, and the means for appending CRCinformation.

According to yet another embodiment, a MoCA network client includes areceiver to receive a software update image on an L2ME message channeland means for storing the software update image in a client memory. TheMoCA network client may also include means for receiving packetscontaining the software update image and an assembler to assemble thepackets into the software update image using assigned sequence numbers.The MoCA network client may also include logic to verify a content ofthe received packets using CRC information appended to the packets. TheMoCA network client may also include a software application forcontrolling the receiver, the means for storing, the assembler, and thelogic to verify a content of the received packets.

According to still another embodiment, a home entertainment systemincludes a server, a client, and an L2ME message channel in a MoCAnetwork. The server is configured to receive an image of a softwareupgrade, to break the image into packets, and to send the packets to aclient over the L2ME message channel. The client is configured toreceive the packets and to store at least a portion of the packets in aclient memory. The server may also be configured to assign a sequencenumber to each packet before sending the packets to the client and theclient may also be configured to receive and assemble the packets intothe image using the assigned sequence number. The server may also beconfigured to append CRC information to the packets before sending thepackets to the client, and the client may be configured to verify thecontent of the received packets using the CRC information.

According to still yet another embodiment, a computer program productincludes at least one computer usable medium having a computer readableprogram code embodied therein. The computer readable program code isadapted to be executed to implement a method for upgrading software of aclient processor in a MoCA network. The method includes receiving animage of a software upgrade at a server, breaking up the image intopackets, and sending the packets to a client in the MoCA network usingat least one L2ME message. The client is enabled to receive the packetsand store the image in a client memory. The computer program product mayalso perform assigning a sequence number to each packet before sendingthe packets to the client to enable the client to receive and assemblethe packets into the image using the assigned sequence number. Thecomputer program product may also perform appending CRC information tothe packets before sending the packets to the client, to enable theclient to verify the content of the received packets. The computerprogram product may be configured with one portion of the at least onecomputer usable medium is located in the server and another portion ofthe at least one computer usable medium is located in the client.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more various embodiments of the disclosed principles,apparatuses, methods, systems, and computer program products aredescribed with reference to the following figures. The drawings areprovided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict examples ofsome disclosed embodiments to facilitate the reader's understanding.They should not be considered to limit the breadth, scope, orapplicability of the claimed invention. It should be noted that forclarity and ease of illustration these drawings are not necessarily madeto scale. The figures are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theclaimed invention to the precise form disclosed. It should be understoodthat the disclosed principles, apparatuses, methods, systems, andcomputer program products can be practiced with modification andalteration, and that the invention should be limited only by the claimsand the equivalents thereof.

FIG. 1 shows an example MoCA network used in a home media network.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram illustrating an example of a softwareupgrade hardware configuration using a MoCA interface.

FIG. 3 shows a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a softwareupgrade process.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a possible payload construction for eachupgrade packet.

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a two-wave pushmessage L2ME transaction.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an L2ME payload for the PUSH message exampleillustrated in FIG. 5.

And FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a two-waveget push message acknowledgement L2ME transaction.

In the various figures of the drawing, like reference numerals denotelike or similar parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosed are principles, apparatuses, methods, systems, andcomputer program products perform a software upgrade using a MoCAinterface. A block diagram of one example of a construction for a system40 to perform the software upgrade using MoCA interface is shown in FIG.2, to which reference is now additionally made.

The system 40 includes a server 42 and at least one client 44. Theserver 42 includes an ECL (Ethernet Convergence Layer) 46, a memory 48,and hardware and software to provide a MoCA MAC (Media Access Control)layer 50 and a MoCA PHY (physical) layer 52. The ECL is described in theMoCA specification, and is the boundary between the MoCA MAC layer andupper layer software, such as TCP/IP and other applications. The MoCAMAC layer is a sublayer of the data link layer and serves as aninterface between the logical link control sublayer and the PHY layer.The PHY layer controls the transmission of data bits between networknodes.

The client 44 is constructed in a manner that is substantially similarto the server 40, including an ECL 56, a memory 58, and hardware andsoftware to provide a MoCA MAC layer 60 and a MoCA PHY layer 62. Theserver 42 and client 44 are connected, for example, by a coaxial cable64, or the like, over which an L2ME message can be transmitted. Althoughonly one client 44 is illustrated, it should be understood that aplurality of similarly constructed clients may exist in any particularinstallation.

In the upgrade process, the ECL 40 receives a software image 54 to beupgraded from a central office (not shown) and stores it in its localmemory 46. The central office may be, for example, a media contentprovider. The server 40 breaks up the software image 54, for example,into multiple small packets of 4-6 words each. (The 4-6 word size isimposed by limitations of the interface between the ECL 46 and the MoCAMAC layer 50 in current devices; however, in future products, this sizemay be larger, limited by the size of the maximum payload allowed by theL2ME messages of the systems.)

After the software update image has been received and packetized, theECL 40 of the server 42 assigns a sequence number and appends CRC(Cyclic Redundancy Check) information to each packet to ensure theclient can assemble these packets into the software image. The ECL 56 ofthe server 42 then sends the packets over the coaxial cable 64 to theECL 56 of the client 44, using the proprietary L2ME messages. The client44 receives the packets, and, after CRC verification, writes them to anonvolatile memory 66 to store the software image.

FIG. 3 to which reference is now additionally made shows an examplesequence diagram for the software upgrade process. For simplicity, theNC (Network Controller), which may be involved in relaying L2MEmessages, is not shown. The upgrade process begins by the server 42sending a message 70 to the client 44 to begin a software upgrade. Theserver then sends a request acknowledgement message 72 to the clientasking for acknowledgment that the client is ready to receive thesoftware upgrade. The client 44 responds with an acknowledgement message74.

The server then begins the process of sending the software image packetsto the client 44, sending software payload #1 76 to the client 44. Aftersoftware payload #1 has been sent, the server 42 sends a receiveacknowledgement message 78 to the client 44 indicating that softwarepayload #1′ has been sent, to assure that software payload #1 has beenreceived. The client 44 responds with an acknowledgement message 80. Theserver 42 then sends software payload #2 82 to the client 44. Aftersoftware payload #2 has been sent, the server 42 sends a receiveacknowledgement message 84 to the client 44 indicating that softwarepayload #2′ has been sent, to assure that software payload #2 has beenreceived. The client 44 responds with an acknowledgement message 86. Theprocess is repeated until all of the software image packets have beensent and received.

After the entire software image packets have been sent and received, theserver sends a message 90 to the client 44 to switch to the new image.The server 42 then requests acknowledgment 92 from the client 44 thatthe client 44 has received the message 90. The client 44 responds withan acknowledgement message 94. The client 44 then switches to the newsoftware image.

FIG. 4, to which reference is now additionally made, shows one possibleformat 120 by which the L2ME payload of the three message types, “beginSW upgrade,” “SW upgrade payload (#N),” and “switch to new SW image,”shown in FIG. 3 may be constructed. The first set of informationcontains packet type information 104 in the first byte of the first word122. The second set of information contains packet length information106 in the next two bytes of the first word 122. And the third set ofinformation contains the first byte, BYTE 1, 108 of the payload in thelast byte 108 of the first word 122. The remaining words 123-127 eachcontain four bytes of the software update image.

The packet type information 104 specifies the type of information of thepacket type parameter, can be anything agreed to between the server andclient, for example:

#define UPGRADE_PKT 1

#define START_UPGRADE_PKT 2

#define SWITCH_TO_NEW_IMAGE 3

The packet length information 106 is zero if the packet type information104 is START_UPGRADE_PKT or SWITCH_TO_NEW_IMAGE. However, the packetlength information 106 is non-zero if the packet type information 104 isUPGRADE_PKT. The packet length information 106 is the number of bytes ofthe upgrade packet and has a maximum length of 360 bytes. (It should benoted that the current software implementation has a 21-byte limitationwith respect to the maximum number of upgrade packet bytes; however,future implementations will be able to support the maximum possiblepayload size of 360 bytes allowed by L2ME transactions.)

Examples of vendor specific L2ME messages that can be used to supportthe above-described software upgrade process include a “push message”L2ME transaction and a “get push message acknowledgement” L2MEtransaction. An example of the “push message” L2ME transaction 140 isillustrated in the sequence diagram of FIG. 5, to which reference is nowadditionally made. The process begins in a first wave, wave 0, by anentry node 142 pushing a “submit” message to the network controller 146.The entry node 142 is the server performing the software upgrade. Thenetwork controller 146 does not interpret the contents of the submitmessage 144, unless the network controller 146, itself, is part of thenode bit mask requested by entry node 142.

The network controller 146, in turn, pushes a request message 148 to theother nodes in the MoCA network, collectively indicated by the referencenumeral 150. The network controller 146 creates the wave 0 requestmessage 148 based on the submit message 144 received from the entry nodeserver 142. The network controller copies the information from thesubmit message 144 into the request message 148 appropriately, includingboth the L2ME header and the payload information.

In response to the request from the network controller 146, the othernodes 150 send responses 152 . . . 153 back to the network controller146 in accordance with the wave 0 node mask. The wave 0 response fromthe nodes 150 does not contain any payload. The nodes that understandthe wave 0 request will set an INTERPRETED bit to “1” in the RESP_STATUSfield of the response message.

The network controller 146 then passes a concatenated response 155 fromall the client nodes 150 from wave 0 back to the entry node 142 in asecond wave, denoted wave 1, and the entry node 142 acknowledges therequest with an acknowledge message 157 to close the transaction. Sincethere is no payload in the wave 1 request, the request primarilycontains a list of all nodes that reported with the INTERPRETED bit set.It should be noted that the entry node MoCA MAC layer can communicatethe response to ECL software that is responsible for the softwareupgrade process.

An example of the basic format submit message 144 follows the submitmessage format specified in the MoCA 1.1 specification table 2.2.Following are specific values to be filled in SUBMIT message for PUSHtransaction:

VENDOR_ID=0x10 (Vendor ID)

TRANS_TYPE=1 (Network Management type)

TRANS_SUBTYPE=3 (PUSH transaction)

WAVE0_NODEMASK=bit mask indicating all client node IDs that need toreceive this PUSH message

MSG_PRIORITY=64

TXN_LAST_WAVE_NUM=1

The push message can also be used for other purposes such as nodediscovery. For example, a client node can initiate a push message. Anexamples of a possible push message includes:

#define PUSH_NODE_INFO 4

The payload for this case may be:

Vendor ID—byte 1 & byte 2

Hardware version ID—byte 2, byte 3, byte 4 and byte 5

Chip ID—byte 6, byte 7, byte 8 and byte 9

Software version ID—byte 10, byte 11, byte 12 and byte 13

MAC Address—byte 14, byte 15, byte 16, byte 17, byte 18 and byte 19

The packet length of the push message of this example would be set to 19in this case.

An example of the L2ME message payload 160 for the push message 144 isshown in FIG. 6, to which reference is now additionally made. The pushmessage 160 includes a vendor identification 162, a request number 164,and a number of vender payload words 166-177. The vendor identificationmay be an OEM's/Service Provider's vendor ID of an OEM or serviceprovider and may or may not be same as the VENDOR_ID in the L2ME messageSUBMIT header. The vendor identification should not exceed a 16-bitvalue. The request number 164 can be used as a transactionidentification and can be used to verify that the clients correctlyreceived the request. The request number range is 0-255. The requestnumber should not be used as a software upgrade packet sequence numberdue to limitation on value range. The last six words 166-171 are forvendor specific information. Each word is 32 bits wide. For softwareupgrade purposes, this can contain one of the packet formats describedabove with reference to FIG. 4.

It should be noted that L2ME procedure ensures reliable delivery of thesoftware upgrade payload to the MoCA MAC layer running on the clientnodes. The ECL of the server has to periodically poll and retrieve thepayload from the MoCA MAC layer on the client nodes. The ECL on theserver can retrieve the entire L2ME payload of the push message 144. Asoftware development kit (SDK) is available to provide APIs to allowthis retrieval Entropic Communications, Inc. of San Diego, Calif. Thus,the acknowledgements received from client nodes 150 as part of the L2MEtransactions are not sufficient for the server to ensure that the ECL onthe client nodes received the vendor payload. To confirm that the ECLhas received the payload, another L2ME transaction called “get pushacknowledgement” may be employed. That transaction gets acknowledgementfrom the ECL that the payload has been received. In a “get pushacknowledgement” transaction, the client nodes 150 will return the“request number” received in the push transaction as a part of a pushacknowledgement L2ME transaction (described below).

It is optional for the server to initiate a push acknowledgementtransaction following a push transaction. A push acknowledgementtransaction ensures an end-to-end (i.e., server-client) acknowledgement.If the push acknowledgement transaction is not initiated, the servermust ensure a sufficient time gap between successive push transactions(i.e., successive upgrade packets) to ensure that the previous packet isnot overwritten before the ECL on the client retrieved it. The actualtime gap is implementation dependent and has to be determined by theamount of time it takes complete one push L2ME transaction plus theperiodicity of polling by the client.

If the server decides to initiate a push acknowledgement transaction, itis possible sometimes the push acknowledgement returns with a failure(for example, if the ECL at the client has not retrieved the upgradepacket yet). In such cases, the server has to retry the pushacknowledgement. Another possibility is to introduce a delay betweenpush and push acknowledgement.

As mentioned above, the entry node 150 server may initiate a get pushmessage acknowledgement L2ME transaction to confirm that the ECLs at allthe clients in the other nodes 150 have successfully received thepayload from a previously sent push message. Alternatively, a user mayinitiate a push acknowledgement L2ME transaction. In either event, theget push message acknowledgement L2ME transaction or the pushacknowledgement L2ME transaction are optional messages and that improvethe robustness of a transaction end-to-end. However, these messages mayalso add extra messages on the wire and potentially extra time to thesoftware upgrade process. An example of a sequence diagram of the getpush message acknowledgement L2ME transaction 180 is illustrated in FIG.7, to which reference is now additionally made. Those skilled in the artwill recognize that the sequences of a push acknowledgement L2MEtransaction that is initiated by a user will be substantially similar tothose shown in the example of the server initiated get push messageacknowledgement L2ME transaction.

The process begins in a first wave, wave 0, by an entry node 142 pushinga wave 0 submit “get message acknowledgement” message 184 to the networkcontroller 146. The L2ME header for the submit get push messageacknowledgement L2ME message is similar to the push message describedabove with reference to FIG. 6, except the transaction subtype isTRANS_SUBTYPE=2 (GET PUSH ACK) and the payload is a 32 bit fieldcontaining the request number. The value contained in the request numberhas to be identical to the value sent in the push message.

The network controller 146 does not interpret the contents of the submitmessage 184, unless the network controller 146, itself, is part of thenode bit mask requested by entry node 142. After the network controller146 has received the submit message 184, it copies the information fromthe submit message 184 into a request message 188, including both theL2ME header and the payload information. The network controller thenbroadcasts, or pushes, the request message 188 to the other nodes 150 inthe MoCA network.

In response to the request from the network controller 146, the othernodes 150 send responses 192 . . . 193 back to the network controller146 in accordance with the wave 0 node mask. The nodes that understandthe wave 0 request will respond with the INTERPRETED bit to set to “1.”

The response also contains a payload of 32 bits comprising the ECLacknowledgement status as follows:

Value of “1” indicates ECL successfully acknowledged;

Value of “0” indicates ECL has not acknowledged.

The network controller 146 then passes a concatenated response 195 fromall the client nodes 150 from wave 0 back to the entry node 142 in asecond wave, denoted wave 1, and the entry node 142 acknowledges therequest with an acknowledge message 196 to close the transaction. Thereis no payload in the wave 1 request, hence the request primarilycontains list of all nodes that reported with INTERPRETED bit set. Itshould be noted that the entry node MoCA MAC layer can communicate theresponse to ECL software that is responsible for the software upgradeprocess.

It should be apparent from the above that the methods and techniquesdescribed above for upgrading software of a client processor in a MoCAnetwork can be accomplished in software, contained for example in atleast one computer program product, such as a memory, or other computerusable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein.In the examples described above with regard, for example, to FIGS. 2, 3,5, and 7, instances of the computer usable medium and computer readableprogram code thereon may be located at any or all of the variouslocations described. Thus, an instance of the computer usable medium andcomputer readable program code thereon may be located in one of, or allof, the server, network controller, client(s) entry node, or other MoCAnode on or serving the MoCA network.

While various embodiments of the disclosed method and apparatus havebeen described above, it should be understood that they have beenpresented by way of example only, and should not limit the claimedinvention. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an examplearchitectural or other configuration for the disclosed method andapparatus. This is done to aid in understanding the features andfunctionality that can be included in the disclosed method andapparatus. The claimed invention is not restricted to the illustratedexample architectures or configurations, rather the desired features canbe implemented using a variety of alternative architectures andconfigurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in the arthow alternative functional, logical or physical partitioning andconfigurations can be implemented to implement the desired features ofthe disclosed method and apparatus. Also, a multitude of differentconstituent module names other than those depicted herein can be appliedto the various partitions. Additionally, with regard to flow diagrams,operational descriptions and method claims, the order in which the stepsare presented herein shall not mandate that various embodiments beimplemented to perform the recited functionality in the same orderunless the context dictates otherwise.

Although the disclosed method and apparatus is described above in termsof various exemplary embodiments and implementations, it should beunderstood that the various features, aspects and functionalitydescribed in one or more of the individual embodiments are not limitedin their applicability to the particular embodiment with which they aredescribed. Thus, the breadth and scope of the claimed invention shouldnot be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unlessotherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposedto limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” shouldbe read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term“example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item indiscussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or“an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or thelike; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,”“standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construedas limiting the item described to a given time period or to an itemavailable as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompassconventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may beavailable or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, wherethis document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known toone of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass thoseapparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in thefuture.

A group of items linked with the conjunction “and” should not be read asrequiring that each and every one of those items be present in thegrouping, but rather should be read as “and/or” unless expressly statedotherwise. Similarly, a group of items linked with the conjunction “or”should not be read as requiring mutual exclusivity among that group, butrather should also be read as “and/or” unless expressly statedotherwise. Furthermore, although items, elements or components of thedisclosed method and apparatus may be described or claimed in thesingular, the plural is contemplated to be within the scope thereofunless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “atleast,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instancesshall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or requiredin instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. The use of theterm “module” does not imply that the components or functionalitydescribed or claimed as part of the module are all configured in acommon package. Indeed, any or all of the various components of amodule, whether control logic or other components, can be combined in asingle package or separately maintained and can further be distributedin multiple groupings or packages or across multiple locations.

Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described interms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations.As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art afterreading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their variousalternatives can be implemented without confinement to the illustratedexamples. For example, block diagrams and their accompanying descriptionshould not be construed as mandating a particular architecture orconfiguration.

What is claimed is:
 1. A home-based server of a home network, thehome-based server comprising: a first transceiver configured tocommunicate with a client device over a coaxial cable network of thehome and not over a communication network external to the home; a secondtransceiver configured to communicate with an external server over thecommunication network external to the home and not over the coaxialcable network of the home; and processing circuitry configured to:utilize the second transceiver to receive a software update image fromthe external server; and utilize the first transceiver to communicatethe received software update image to the client device over the homecoaxial cable network utilizing a Layer-2 Management Entity (L2ME)message channel of the coaxial cable network of the home.
 2. Thehome-based server of claim 1, wherein there is no network layerconnectivity between the client device and the external software servervia the home coaxial cable network.
 3. The home-based server of claim 1,wherein there is no Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) service between the client device and the external server. 4.The home-based server of claim 3, wherein there is no TCP/IP telnetservice between the client device and the external server.
 5. Thehome-based server of claim 1, wherein there is no Ethernet servicebetween the client device and the external server.
 6. The home-basedserver of claim 1, wherein the client is not part of an Ethernet serviceor a TCP/IP telnet service to the service provider.
 7. The home-basedserver of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:utilize the second transceiver to receive the software update imageutilizing a protocol stack layer higher than an Ethernet ConvergenceLayer (ECL); and utilize the first transceiver to communicate thesoftware update image to the client device utilizing no protocol stacklayer higher than an Ethernet Convergence Layer (ECL) of the coaxialcable network of the home.
 8. The home-based server of claim 1, wherein:the coaxial cable network of the home comprises an open network that isuser modifiable and a closed network that is not user modifiable; andthe processing circuitry is configured to utilize the first transceiverto communicate the software update image to the client device over theclosed network.
 9. The home-based server of claim 1, wherein thesoftware update image comprises configuration management information.10. The home-based server of claim 1, wherein at least one L2ME messagesent from the first transceiver to the client device over the L2MEmessage channel comprises header information that specifies that theL2ME message relates to a software update.
 11. A node of a home coaxialcable network, the node comprising: a first transceiver configured tocommunicate with a client device of the home coaxial cable network overthe home coaxial cable network; a second transceiver configured tocommunicate with an external server over a second communication networkdifferent from the home coaxial cable network and external to the home;and processing circuitry configured to: utilize the second transceiverto receive a software update image from the external server over thesecond communication network using a communication protocol stack layerat least as high as a Network Layer; and utilize the first transceiverto communicate the received software update image to the client deviceover the home coaxial cable network utilizing a Layer-2 ManagementEntity (L2ME) message channel of the coaxial cable network, and whereinat least one L2ME message sent from the first transceiver to the clientdevice over the L2ME message channel comprises header information thatspecifies that the L2ME message relates to a software update.
 12. Thenode of claim 11, wherein there is no network layer connectivity betweenthe client device and the external server via the home coaxial cablenetwork.
 13. The node of claim 11, wherein there is no TransmissionControl Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) service between the clientdevice and the external server.
 14. The node of claim 13, wherein thereis no TCP/IP telnet service between the client device and the externalserver.
 15. The node of claim 11, wherein there is no Ethernet servicebetween the client device and the external server.
 16. The node of claim11, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to utilize the firsttransceiver to communicate the software update image to the clientdevice utilizing no protocol stack layer higher than an EthernetConvergence Layer (ECL) of the home coaxial cable network.
 17. The nodeof claim 11, wherein: the home coaxial cable network comprises an opennetwork that is user modifiable and a closed network that is not usermodifiable; and the processing circuitry is configured to utilize thefirst transceiver to communicate the software update image to the clientdevice over the closed network.
 18. A home-based node of a coaxial cablehome network, the home-based node comprising: a first transceiverconfigured to communicate with a client device over at least a firstportion of the coaxial cable home network, where the first portion isnot directly accessible to a node outside of the home; a secondtransceiver configured to communicate with an external server externalto the coaxial cable home network over a second communication networkdifferent from the coaxial cable home network; and processing circuitryconfigured to: utilize the second transceiver to receive a softwareupdate image from the external server over the second communicationnetwork; utilize the first transceiver to communicate the receivedsoftware update image to the client device over the first portion of thecoaxial cable home network; determine whether the client device hascorrectly received the software update image; and if it is determinedthat the client device has correctly received the software update image,then utilize the first transceiver to communicate a command to theclient device over the first portion of the coaxial cable home networkto switch to operating in accordance with the communicated softwareupdate image, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to utilizethe first transceiver to communicate the received software update imageto the client device over the coaxial cable network utilizing a Layer-2Management Entity (L2ME) message channel of the coaxial cable homenetwork, and wherein at least one L2ME message sent from the firsttransceiver to the client device over the L2ME message channel comprisesheader information that specifies that the L2ME message relates to asoftware update.
 19. The home-based node of claim 18, wherein there isno network layer connectivity between the client device and the externalsoftware server via the coaxial cable home network.
 20. The home-basednode of claim 18, wherein the software update image comprisesconfiguration management information.